Auto Stop Cycles On and Off Quickly

[literfairy]

I've had my 2010 Insight LX since March. For the last week, when I come to a full stop, my auto stop light has been blinking at a regular interval (at about the rate of a turn signal). I have changed absolutely nothing about my driving style. The car is always in ECON mode with the A/C on auto, usually set to about 78 degrees, or off. While the light is flashing, I don't hear the engine and my air goes off.

Before about a week ago, my auto stop worked like normal consistently. Since the light started flashing, it's done it every single time I've stopped. My gas milage has gone down just a bit on shorted trips, but I don't really know if the drop is related or just general variance.

I had my oil changed at the dealer today, and I asked them to look into it. The tech said that he drove the car and didn't notice anything unusual and that the auto stop function is just very sensitive to slight pressure changes on the brake. While I agree with that, that does not in any way account for the regular blinking in all circumstances or the sudden onset paired with no change in driving habits.

[jpleong]

I'll let others chime in but I think my Autostop Light has always flashed when it is engaged.

But you say the duration of Autostop has shortened? Can you estimate, roughly, how long it takes to engage/disengage?

JP

[Jayemtee]

When stopped and the light is flashing, look at the tachometer. This will tell you if the engine actually stops or not. It's a much better indication than saying you don't hear the engine.

If indeed the engine stops, you're good.

[JimJohnD]

My Auto-Stop light blinks while it is working. Page 322 of the Owner's Manual confirms this is normal.

"This indicator blinks when the Auto
Idle Stop system is in operation.
If the driver’s door is opened while
the indicator is blinking, the buzzer
sounds to notify that the Auto Idle
Stop system is in operation."

If you've only just glanced at it you may have just missed it blinking in the past. Short trips really reduce the potential MPG. Most of my driving is in-town so I'm used to seeing the lower numbers. I'll go for a longer drive on weekends (photography trips) to get everything up to full temp for a while. I get great MPG on the longer runs.

[Cobb]

Mines blinks in operation. Humidity and battery voltage under 12.5 turns it off amoung other things. Funny thing, turning on the windshield causes the volts to sag under 12.5.

[bubblebuzz]

My auto stop light flashes when that fuction has switched off the engine. Air flow is greatly reduced from the a/c system too. I thought this was normal.

I also find that first thing in the morning when I get into the rolling roadblock that is rush hour traffic, the auto-stop feature will sometimes not kick in when stationary and the engine just runs on at tickover. That does reduce the mpg figures for me.

Once the car gets a run on the motorway (that's English English for Freeway!) and then gets back into stop start traffic the auto-stop feature starts working more consistently again.

Strangely when the auto-stop refuses to kick in the multi-information display screen that shows power flow shows that only the fuel is powering the engine and the battery is not being charged.